(Feb 16, 2007) – StudyDog, a leading supplier of early childhood reading programs, announced the introduction of its PreK Essentials reading program that targets 3 and 4 year-old children. In development for eighteen months, PreK Essentials features a complete and comprehensive reading program of twenty-four lessons that builds critical reading skills for young children. It is the first academic pre-K reading curriculum that is complete, is fully compliant with the findings of the National Reading Panel and targets 3 and 4 year-old children.

Although the curriculum is rigorous and covers all of the critical reading skills, StudyDog presents a delightfully simple view to 3 and 4 year olds. "One of the most challenging problems we have in teaching very young children reading skills is how to present the curriculum to the child. If it is not sufficiently rigorous or comprehensive, the child is not likely to learn. On the other hand, if the content is rigorous and complete, the child may find it boring and not want to "play" with it repeatedly", said Deme Clainos, StudyDog president and CEO.

PreK Essentials solves this problem. It is a full academic-oriented reading curriculum that encompasses the five critical areas necessary for learning to read, including phonics, as defined by the National Reading Panel and several States that publish their reading standards. But, it is also very entertaining for the young child and simple to use. The result is that a child stays engaged and learns critical reading skills.

The way StudyDog accomplished this was to invent propriety technology called "GO! Button Simple". The GO! button is the "play list" of lessons that automatically sequences the twenty-four lesson curriculum to insure systematic learning according to State reading standards. All the child sees is the StudyDog Playhouse, which is a colorful and enticing layout of six rooms each with an engaging character who tries to get the attention of the child, and a large, colorful GO! button. The child simply clicks the GO! button and the first lesson is launched. When that is completed, the next lesson, which is determined by the play list, is automatically presented. This procedure ensures the correct sequencing of reading skills. A teacher or a child may over-ride the play list in order to do, or re-do, a specific lesson, if desired. The play list is set by StudyDog and defined by leading scientific evidence and State standards.

PreK Essentials also includes a teacher reporting capability. The Classroom Management Report shows the teacher the progress of all of the students. The Student & Parent Management Report is ideal for pinpointing a specific problem with a single student or demonstrating a student’s progress during a parent conference.

PreK Essentials is available on a CD-ROM and it will keep track of up to 30 students on a single computer. The retail price of PreK Essentials is $29.95 and volume discounts are available to schools.



About StudyDog
StudyDog is a company that believes that success in life starts with being able to read. StudyDog is used in more than 3,000 schools across the nation and internationally to supplement classroom reading instruction. More than 50,000 parents use StudyDog at home with their children. For more information about StudyDog visit www.StudyDog.com or call toll free at 1-866-643-4449, press 1.

CONTACT:

Ginger Wilding National Center for Family Literacy 502-584-1133 x147 gwilding@famlit.org

Deme Clainos StudyDog, Inc. 503-643-4449 X101 dclainos@studydog.com